Childlike Love
by MWolfL
Summary: Sequel to the animated Christmas special Donner. After discovering his true identity, Donner has become a popular reindeer. Unfortunately, his popularity makes it hard to make real friends. That soon changes... DonnerXOC
1. The Solution Caused a Problem

A.N. Many years ago I found and recorded this Christmas special called Donner (animated, it came out in 2001). I always loved it, especially since it put 'acting like a kid' in a positive light (plus most of the main characters are amusing). I've been wanting to write a story for the special, and that's where this came from.

It was the following year after Donner discovered who he really was and regained his flying ability. But life didn't become better for him despite that. Sure he was back on the team, had two new friends, and had gained more respect from the rest of the flying team (including Blitzen which isn't an easy task). Unfortunately, Donner's true self was that of a kid-at-heart. And since Christmas revolves around kids, this meant that kids were highly thought of up at the North Pole. Meaning that Donner now was popular, which was something that he never wanted.

Oh sure the team were now true friends to him, since they had the decency to apologize for their earlier treatment. Well except for Blitzen, in his case 'apologizing' meant 'changing how you treat someone'. In this case Donner was no longer yelled at for being late or anything else, though he still was often scolded for slip-ups. Dasher on the other hoof was a little jealous of Donner's new popularity at first, though was a good sport about it and even offered to give Donner some tips. Donner declined, unless Dasher's tips were about getting rid of popularity. That caught Dasher off guard, though it also stopped his jealousy. Instead Dasher felt sorry for Donner for getting caught up in something he never wanted, and apologized for not having been nice to him earlier.

The rest of the team found out about Donner's problem through Dasher, and tried in their own ways to help. Dasher helped by not hanging out with Donner a lot in public, since he was still a popular reindeer and would probably add more unwanted attention towards Donner. Vixen did the same thing as Dasher, except when a female recruit showed up looking as if she wanted to hang out with Donner. If Vixen was around at the time she'd then go straight to Donner and talk to him friendly-like. This would stop the advancing female and make her leave, since no one could compete with Vixen. Comet offered to give Donner a jetpack or something for quick getaways, but Donner declined. He already had more than enough explosions from his two elf friends Skeezer and Tubby. Cupid helped by not doing anything. This was helping because the other female reindeer tried to get him to hook them up with Donner, but he always backed down. Blitzen helped by offering to put him through more training to keep him too busy for his fans. This Donner definitely turned down, the current training was already too much for him. Dancer knew that dancing wouldn't help Donner, since Donner was trying to avoid his fans and dancing with them wasn't avoiding. So instead Dancer helped by showing true friendship: he offered to try one of Donner's activities. This Donner didn't turn down, and he especially appreciated the offer. Dancer tried a few kid-like things, though really only liked the games. Especially DDR, which was how Donner had become an unknowingly good dancer. Prancer offered to teach Donner some meditation techniques to ease his frustration, which Donner again accepted. They worked too.

Skeezer and Tubby, the two elves who helped Donner realize who he really was, also tried to help but Donner said that their friendship was enough. The three of them had become even closer over the years, especially since Donner was now their Toy Consultant. Skeezer and Tubby did have a tendency to go overboard with their toy ideas, so Donner let them know when they did. Everything else was sent to Santa for a second opinion. Fortunately for them since Donner knew more about what kids would like Santa switched to just testing the new toy for safety, meaning that almost all of Skeezer and Tubby's toys passed. This also meant that they were put back in the toy making department, Donner after all wasn't one to back down on a deal. Even if his realizing who he was was mostly him, Skeezer and Tubby did do their best to help. All this also meant that eventually Donner became the Toy Consultant for all the toy making elves. This Donner liked, since it meant that he got to play with toys a lot along with being the first to try out a new toy.

However, all this may have helped with Donner's frustration and grumpiness about his new popularity, but it did not help him with something important: his sadness. Even though he wasn't interested in dating at the moment he did know that that's what all the female recruits wanted from him but only because of his popularity. Which meant that once he changed his mind about dating, he would only have a bunch of fanatics to pick from. Since he would never date a fanatic, this would mean that he would probably be alone for the rest of his life. Unless a miracle happened.


	2. New Recruits

Interestingly, a miracle did happen. It was interesting because it didn't happen during the Christmas season, which is a common time for miracles. Instead it happened in August, when new recruits often showed up. Among them was an often overlooked brunette around Donner's height and age. Her name was Gayle, and she was a big fan of Christmas. Even her main outfit was Christmasy: a green dress with red dots.

Gayle was overlooked because she acted like a kid a lot, which the other girls and most other guys thought to be immature of her. They had no idea that kid-like personalities were highly regarded up at the North Pole, or that immaturity was not the same as being child-like. This treatment though caused Gayle to be insecure and unsure of whether being a kid was her true personality or not. Surprisingly, despite this she still could fly, though it would happen randomly. Not even Gayle figured out what caused her to fly and what caused her to stop flying, though she had a feeling that the treatment she got from the other reindeer had something to do with her not-flying.

Once Gayle and the other new recruits arrived they were led around the North Pole by Noelle, Blitzen's helper elf. It was lunchtime so she didn't need to be with Blitzen yet, most of the training was in the morning. The afternoon was for keeping in shape or hanging out with friends. Even though Blitzen treated the team somewhat like an army he knew that they weren't an army and still needed to socialize.

After the tour the new recruits ran off in their own directions leaving Gayle alone. Gayle sadly walked through the trees hoping that she could find a reindeer who she could be friends with. She and the other new recruits didn't need to worry about their luggage, since the elves who dealt with keeping things in order around the North Pole were taking it to the recruit buildings. Unlike the building for the team the recruit buildings weren't co-ed.

That was when Gayle ran into Donner. She didn't know who he was, though she did wonder why he was alone.

"Hello." She said.

A bit startled, Donner looked up.

"Oh, hi." He smiled. "New recruit?"

"Uh-huh, my name's Gayle."

"Nice to meet you. Say what are you doing here alone?"

"No one wants to be my friend, they think I'm too childish." Gayle said sadly.

"Really? Why would they think that?" Donner frowned with confusion.

"Because I like kid things like comic books."

Donner dropped his mouth open.

"No way...so do I!"

Gayle dropped her mouth open.

"It's true, and by the way those other reindeer are wrong." Donner said. "The correct term is 'child-like', which isn't a bad thing. Childish refers to being greedy and selfish."

Gayle now smiled.

"I never thought I'd meet another reindeer who I could relate to." She said happily.

"Same here." Donner was now almost as happy as he had been last year when he got his flying ability back; this was quite an improvement really.

They started talking, and found out that they liked the same things with a couple differences. Gayle preferred computer games to video games, and comic books about teens and female superheroes to male superheroes. They instantly bonded, and became fast friends. All too soon it was getting close to dinnertime.

"Oh, I should go unpack." Gayle realized upon noticing how dark it was getting. "It was a long trip and I'll probably want to go straight to bed after dinner."

"Kinda had a long day myself, so I understand. We can see each other tomorrow." Donner nodded.

"Of course, how about in the morning?"

"Nah, it'll have to be lunchtime. I have training in the morning."

"Oh. I'll see you at lunch then."

"Sure thing!" Donner started to leave with a wave.

"Wait! I didn't get your name!" Gayle called after him.

"Oh right! It's Donner!" Donner left.

Gayle froze. Everyone after all knew the names of the reindeer on the sleigh team.

"No way, I became friends with one of Santa's own reindeer?" Gayle couldn't believe her luck.

Meanwhile, Donner couldn't believe his luck. Finally a girl who liked him for his personality and nothing else!

Oh, and about why they couldn't have dinner together: the mess hall always got full quickly, meaning that by the time Gayle would enter the building Donner would already be at a full table. The table he and the rest of the team ate at actually. Even though meals were casual the team still liked to eat together to discuss training and such. Donner sometimes would eat with them and just read a comic book, but before he became popular he also liked to hang out with the recruits and talk about television shows or something like that.

Anyway, once Donner joined the rest of the team for dinner he started telling them about Gayle. They were surprised but really happy for him. Unfortunately their table was already full, unsurprisingly, so they couldn't invite Gayle to join them. When Gayle arrived she had to sit at a random table, the only one with a few seats left. Even though there were other deer and even some elves at her table, she still looked very lonely. Donner gave her a sympathetic look.

The next day, Gayle joined the other new recruits for training. She did really good, until it was time for her to show her flying skills. She would've done good, since she had finally found a friend in Donner, if it hadn't been for this one moment:

"Heh, look it's the childish reindeer." One snobby female snickered to her friends. "I can't believe Santa let her come here with us, what could she possibly contribute to the team? She can't even fly very well."

"I'll bet you ten bucks she'll leave within a week." One of her male friends smirked.

"I wouldn't mind ten boyfriends." The snobby female's not-so-bright friend remarked.

"Not that kind of buck." Another male friend rolled his eyes.

"Oh."

Gayle overheard them, and felt bad again. That one buck (deer, not money) was wrong though. Now that she was friends with Donner she decided to never leave no matter how bad everything else got.

Anyway, Gayle nervously went to the take-off site, ran towards the edge, and leapt off. Then she fell. It was kinda like how Donner fell when he first lost his flying ability, only she didn't look surprised or confused by it. It was more of a 'not again' look.

And cue the other recruits laughing at her. Gayle ran into the woods, crying.

Meanwhile, Donner and the rest of the team were training. This time Donner was more into training, or at least it looked like it. He worked hard to finish each section, which was so out of character for him that even Blitzen was surprised instead of relieved.

"Company halt!" Blitzen ordered.

The rest of the team stopped running around the track. Blitzen went over to Donner.

"Oh don't tell me I actually did something wrong." Donner rolled his eyes.

"No, I was just wondering if you were the real Donner and not some alien clone or something." Blitzen said gently; gently for him anyway.

"Oh, right my 'change of attitude'. Uh, I just wanted to finish training as soon as possible so that I can meet Gayle for lunch." Donner blushed slightly.

"Ah." Blitzen understood. "Well you know what, I'll make the track the second-to-last part. Flying being last part. I'm getting hungry anyway."

"Great, thank you sir!" Donner saluted.

"Right." Blitzen went back to the outside of the track. "Forward march!"

The rest of the team resumed running. Then came the flying. Unknown to them Gayle was watching them from the woods.

Donner went first, and flew so well that even Blitzen smiled, impressed. Gayle felt even worse, and also felt that she didn't deserve a friend like Donner. She left.

Donner then landed and ran towards the recruits section. Due to his eagerness you'd think that the team automatically assumed that Donner had gotten a crush on Gayle and didn't know it, but actually they just thought that he was overjoyed about having a real friend. Little did they know, Donner really had gotten a crush on Gayle but didn't know about it. It was a small crush though, the kind that slowly develops over months.

As Donner happily walked through the woods, he heard crying. Always friendly and sociable, he walked towards the crying without a second thought. Imagine his surprise when he saw that it was Gayle who was crying.

"Gayle!" Donner gasped.

Startled, Gayle looked up and saw Donner.

"Are you all right?" He asked, sitting next to her very concerned.

"No." Gayle hung her head. "I'm awful. You shouldn't be friends with me, you deserve someone better."

"Gayle, there is no one better." Donner said. "You're the only girl who has liked me for me and not for my popularity."

"What about Prancer or Vixen?" Gayle pointed out.

"Prancer is more like a sister, and I don't go for those who care about appearances a lot." Donner shrugged.

Gayle gave him a confused look. The way he said that made it sound as if he was talking about girlfriends instead of just friends.

"What?" Donner was now confused.

"Oh...nothing." Gayle realized that Donner didn't mean girlfriends after all.

"So why would you think such a horrible lie?" Donner asked.

"It's all the other recruits, they laugh and make fun of me." Gayle sighed. "I know I shouldn't listen to them, but it still hurts. And...I can't fly."

Donner looked at her empathetically this time.

"You know, there was a time last year when I lost my ability to fly." Donner smiled.

"You? One of the best members of the sleigh team?" Gayle was surprised.

"Yeah. My elf friends Skeezer and Tubby told me it was because I didn't know who I was at the time, which lowered my confidence. They ended up right. That's your problem Gayle, you just don't have enough confidence in yourself. Don't listen to those snobs, they know nothing. Next time you have to fly just think of me. I'm sure that you're the best flyer the recruits have."

Gayle smiled at him, feeling a lot better. She then hugged him.

"Thank you Donner."

"No prob." Donner smiled.

He was confused again though. For some reason his heart pounded a little.

"_Weird, I didn't train that hard._" He thought.

They then left and headed for the mess hall. They got there with enough time to grab a seat together. It was at the table with the rest of the team too. The team greeted Gayle pleasantly in their own ways, stating how they were glad that Gayle had given Donner true friendship. Especially since Donner used to be depressed. Gayle was surprised to hear this, and Donner confirmed it and explained that not being able to make any real friends after he became popular made him feel lonely. Gayle smiled at him empathetically, since she knew what it was like to feel lonely.

As for the rest of the reindeer and the elves their reactions varied. The elves were glad that Donner had gotten a real friend, especially Skeezer and Tubby who instantly wanted to meet Gayle (they didn't leave to do so though, they didn't want to lose their seats). The male reindeer were surprised that the team let Gayle sit with them, especially those who knew Gayle somewhat. The female reindeer were extremely jealous.

After lunch Donner took Gayle back to the team's home so he could show her his games and such. They had a lot of fun playing, and later decided that the following day they would play over where she was staying.


	3. New Friends

The next day went much better. Gayle, keeping her thoughts only on Donner, flew. She flew amazingly actually, surprising the other recruits and even the trainers. After she landed the other recruits went up to her.

"So, did you get any flying tips from Donner?" One guy asked.

"Just one: always be confident that you can do it." Gayle smiled.

"Good at flying or not your childish ways make it hard to believe that Donner would hang out with you." One of the new female recruits sneered.

"Whoa, what do you mean by childish?" An older female recruit asked.

"She reads comics and plays with toys." Another new female recruit scoffed. "She should learn to grow up."

"Uh, that's not childish that's childlike." Another older female recruit corrected. "And you do know what we're doing this for right?"

"For a spot on the sleigh team so that we can become famous and get a hunk and end up in books about Santa." One of the not-so-bright new female recruits said.

Gayle facepalmed, along with the older recruits.

"We're doing this for the kids! This holiday is all about the kids!" Another older female recruit corrected, irritated. "Meaning that we hold kids to a high regard around here, also meaning that any reindeer who has kid qualities becomes extremely popular. Like Donner!"

The new snobby recruits were taken aback by this, and fell silent. They then left, embarrassed.

"Say, what's your name?" A new older female recruit smiled.

"Name's Gayle." Gayle smiled.

"I'm Millie." The new older female recruit smiled. "These are my friends Ann, Holly, and Barbara. Don't listen to these snobs Gayle, at least you're a nice reindeer unlike them. And it's cool that you like kid things. We kinda do as well, though aren't really into most of it. Say, wanna hang out?"

"Sure!" Gayle smiled. "I can introduce you to Donner as well, he's an extremely nice guy."

"Really! That would be so cool!" Holly gushed.

"Uh, Holly comes from a family of Christmas nuts." Barbara giggled.

"You mean chestnuts?" Gayle joked.

They all laughed, even Holly.

"I like that! I gotta tell my parents that one." Holly laughed.

"Yeah that was good." Ann agreed. "But don't let Holly go to Donner right away, she has an insane crush on him. Better introduce us first to warm him up a bit, we've noticed that he doesn't seem to like female recruits near him anymore."

"Yeah he told me about that. It's because if he's going to end up with a doe he wants a doe who likes him for him and not for his popularity." Gayle explained.

"Makes sense." Millie nodded. "Well except for Holly we like him for his personality. We used to be friends with him before he became popular. Then he kinda freaked out about too many fangirls and such." She then frowned at Holly, who blushed.

"Holly was one of them?" Gayle guessed.

"Yeah, she wore a tree skirt and stood outside the window asking Donner to marry her." Barbara sniggered.

"Don't tell her that!" Holly said through her teeth.

"Oops, bad move." Gayle shook her head. "Donner's not ready to even think about dating yet let alone marriage."

"That explains why he refused to leave the sleigh team's cabin that day." Ann realized. "He must have been traumatized."

"Aw chestnuts." Holly pouted.

"Come on, he's meeting me for lunch again." Gayle grinned and ran towards the woods.

Millie, Ann, Barbara, and Holly followed her. Sure enough there was Donner, who looked surprised to see her. Actually, he was surprised to see the other does.

"Made some new friends?" Donner guessed.

"Yeah, they stood up for me when the snobs tried to make fun of me again. Later I found out that they like some kid things too." Gayle explained.

"Ah, good...Millie? Ann? Barbara?" Donner suddenly recognized most of the other does. "Wow, it's been so long."

"It sure has, we've missed hanging out with you." Barbara nodded.

"Yeah sorry about that..." Donner rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"Don't apologize, we understand." Ann smiled.

Donner was relieved...then he saw Holly.

"YIKE!" Donner ducked behind a rock.

"Yup, he was traumatized." Ann nodded.

"Donner!" Holly called. "Please, there's nothing to be scared of. I'm sorry for that...incident really! I just...I have this huge crush on you and I couldn't control it. I promise I'll leave you alone unless we're hanging out with our other friends and even then I'll only talk to you as a friend."

Donner peeped above the rock.

"Really?" He double-checked.

"Relax Donner, if nothing else Ann and I will tie her down." Barbara chuckled.

Holly stuck her tongue out at her playfully.

Donner relaxed and came out from behind the rock.

"Thank goodness." He wiped his brow.

"So how did you get off training early?" Gayle asked.

"Oh, Blitzen knew how miserable I was in the past so he's been pretty nice about our becoming friends." Donner smiled. "Come on, I want you to meet Skeezer and Tubby."

She did. Millie, Ann, Barbara, and Holly already knew Skeezer and Tubby. Gayle liked them right away, and they liked her. Donner then treated Gayle and her new friends by letting them stay to test Skeezer and Tubby's new toys. Donner even invited Gayle to help out. They had a lot of fun together, and Donner's crush on Gayle started to strengthen a bit.

As the months past his crush strengthened more and more. Gayle had developed a crush on him as well but it was weaker. Since she never had friends before Donner, unlike Donner, her heart was less open to romance. Which was saying something considering how 'open' Donner's heart was.

Finally, December came. By that time Gayle had been promoted to Donner's assistant in toy testing so they were able to hang out a lot more. This also led to Gayle realizing that being a kid really was her true personality. During this time Donner also rekindled his old friendship with Millie, Ann, and Barbara. He even became friends with Holly, who got over her crush when she realized that she wasn't jealous of Donner hanging out with Gayle more. This meant that her crush didn't really have any love in it, and so it faded until it stopped existing.


	4. The Merriest Christmas of All

Then, Christmas Eve. The sleigh team took off, Gayle cheering Donner on.

That was when Donner and Gayle both realized that they had developed feelings for each other. For Gayle it started when she saw Donner leave until she couldn't see him anymore. Even the thought of not seeing Donner for hours filled her chest with pain. Confused, she went to Skeezer to ask him what was wrong.

"It's weird Skeezer, I know he'll be back and yet...his being away actually hurts." Gayle said sadly.

Skeezer looked like he was going to cry. He had always liked Gayle and hoped that she and Donner would end up together.

"You feel that way because you and Donner have formed a connection." Skeezer said happily. "A connection that caused at least you to fall in love with him."

Gayle was shocked, but as she thought about it she realized that Skeezer was right. However, knowing that Donner wasn't ready to date or anything yet, she decided to let Donner make the first move.

Donner realized how he truly felt when they reached the house of a newlywed couple. Beforehand his mind was completely on the job, except whenever he thought about the joys of flying. However, when they reached the newlyweds Donner started thinking about love...and Gayle instantly popped into his head. This startled him, though he kept it hidden very well, and as he continued thinking about it he realized what had happened. Since he knew that he'd only fall in love when he was ready and with the right person, he decided to tell Gayle how he felt later Christmas Day. It would be her Christmas present from him.

When the team returned they went to bed. The following afternoon would be the annual Christmas Party and they always wanted to be well rested for it. Even Donner went straight to bed instead of going to Gayle, he was that tired. Understandable, Gayle had fallen asleep in her room too.

That afternoon was the party, and everyone had fun. Donner hung out with Gayle, Skeezer, Tubby, Millie, Ann, Barbara, and Holly and they had loads of fun talking and snacking. The rest of the reindeer and the elves had fun too. Now and then someone from the team would go to Donner to have a pleasant chat and ask him what he planned to do after the party. Donner said that he was going to just hang out with his friends the rest of the day.

After the party, that's what Donner and his friends did. They played with their own toys, and even role-played various comics of his and Gayle's. Later that night, Donner walked Gayle and her friends to their dorm while Skeezer and Tubby headed for their home after saying goodnight. Millie, Ann, Barbara, and Holly said their goodnights and headed inside first. Gayle hung back, debating whether to tell Donner her feelings or not.

"Gayle," Donner said. "There's something I need to tell you."

Gayle looked surprised.

"What is it?" She asked.

"I-I'm in love with you." Donner smiled.

Gayle smiled.

"I'm in love with you too." She said.

And they kissed.

The next day, not everyone found out that Donner and Gayle were now a couple. Just the team, plus Skeezer, Tubby, Millie, Ann, Barbara, and Holly found out. Word hadn't been spread to the rest of the North Pole because they didn't want Gayle to deal with jealous does. I mean she was going to have to deal with them eventually, but Donner and the others wanted to put it off as long as possible.

Fortunately, they were able to keep this up for a year. And during that time most of the does had already gotten over Donner and moved on to other bucks. However, one summer day Donner and Gayle were on a date, just gazing at the stars. One of the older trainees was taking a nightly jog when she spotted them. By afternoon the following day, the rest of the North Pole found out about Donner and Gayle. There were a few fangirls left who were really jealous, but when they confronted Gayle at one point Donner saw them and told them off, finally letting out all the frustration and resentment he had felt over the years. After that, no doe ever bothered Gayle again.

Time passed, and Donner and Gayle remained deeply in love. So much so that a few years later Donner decided it was time to propose. And so he did Christmas morning before heading to bed after the flight. Gayle accepted right away, and a few months later they were wed.

A few years after that, Gayle had a doe. They decided to name her Fantina, meaning childlike. Fantina lived up to her name, and became a great flyer just like her parents.


End file.
